Verizon to invest $200 million in Massachusetts broadband efforts

Company's investment will expand its cable TV service in Eastern Massachusetts and improve high-speed Internet service in Western Massachusetts.

Jon Chesto

Verizon Communications Inc. unveiled plans on Thursday to invest $200 million in broadband expansions in the state this year as it seeks more TV and high-speed Internet customers.

Verizon's expansion will add 30 municipalities, primarily in the eastern part of the state, to the network of communities that receive the TV service the company delivers over fiber-optic lines.

Verizon aims to offer its FiOS service in 96 communities by the end of the year. The company currently offers its TV service in 63 cities and towns and has cable TV agreements lined up, but no service activated yet, in another three towns.

The New York-based company also plans to add high-speed Internet service with its DSL technology in 23 communities in the western part of the state.

By the end of the year, Verizon expects to offer high-speed Internet service in 344 of the state's 351 cities and towns.

``We really looked across the board at all the technologies we have in our tool chest to offer broadband services, and have made a commitment statewide,'' said Donna Cupelo, the president of Verizon's operations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The $200 million investment roughly matches what Verizon spent in 2007 on improving broadband services in the state, according to Verizon spokesman Phil Santoro. Verizon also added FiOS TV service to about 30 communities last year.

Myles Calvey, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2222 in Dorchester, still hailed Thursday's announcement as a major victory for Verizon's workers and customers in Massachusetts.

Calvey said his union's members feared that Verizon might find that it takes too long to recoup its capital investments in Massachusetts to continue funding such expansions. The investments are particularly important amid the slowdown in Verizon's traditional business of providing local phone service, he said.

``We have to compete with the rest of the country when the corporation wants to invest in places,'' Calvey said. ``I was really pleased that the local people (in Verizon) convinced the company to put some money in here.''

The company recently began hiring people to fill 200 new jobs at its call centers in Andover, Taunton, Springfield and Worcester to keep up with the growth.

Verizon crews have also been busy rolling out fiber-optic lines to complete networks in towns where it already offers the FiOS service. By the end of the year, Verizon wants to have FiOS TV service available to nearly 500,000 households in the state, Santoro said. That would be a roughly 25 percent increase from its current market in the state.

As of Dec. 31, Verizon had about 78,000 TV subscribers in Massachusetts.

``We've been really encouraged by the reception in Massachusetts,'' Cupelo said.

Verizon officials have been frustrated by state rules that require town-by-town negotiations for TV franchises. Company executives say such negotiations can take a year or more.

Last year, the company lobbied for a bill before the state Legislature that would significantly streamline the franchise permitting system while reducing the local control over the process.

Cupelo said company executives met again on Thursday to discuss how to best continue pushing for the bill's passage.

``The bottom line is that we'll do much better in the future getting more capital investments for the state (from Verizon's corporate managers) if we can prove we have a streamlined process in which you can get this kind of license,'' Cupelo said.

FiOS TV service is already available in the following communities in the region: Braintree, Canton, Dedham, Marshfield, Middleboro, Norwood and Rockland. Verizon also has franchises, but has not activated TV service yet, in Abington, Rochester and Wareham.

Jon Chesto may be reached at jchesto@ledger.com.

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